Dried fruit can be a delicious snack for any time of day, but is dried fruit nutritious? Which types are the best, and is there anything you should be aware of before you grab a handful?
The truth is, dried fruit can be very good for you, and it can have lots of benefits when added to a diet. However, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, because there are a few risks that you should know about before you start chowing down on your new favourite snack.
One of the most important things to understand when it comes to foods like this is how nutritious it is. The nutrition will vary from one fruit to the next, so if you want to maximise the benefits, you might want to pick your fruits carefully.
Typically, foods that are nutrient-dense have low amounts of bad fats, starches, sodium, and sugar. These foods tend to contain relatively few calories and a lot of micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.
Nutritious foods tend to be unprocessed and whole, too. So, most of the stuff we usually have sitting in our cupboards unfortunately don’t fit the bill. However, quite a lot that we might store in the fridge will be nutrient-dense – but not all of it.
A lot of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world might be surprising to you. Things like salmon and sardines are right at the top of the list, along with kale, seaweed, garlic, and also shellfish. For the fruit lovers, various berries and bitter melons are also incredibly nutritious – and berries are often dried out to be healthy snacks.
Because of the protective antioxidant properties found in a lot of dried fruit, these tasty snacks may help to prevent a number of diseases like cancer and heart disease, as well as increase blood flow. Your immunity can also be boosted thanks to the calcium, potassium, proteins, and essential oils that are found in it.
Since it is also high in fibre, dried fruit can help to keep your bowels healthy and decrease the chances of experiencing things like constipation.
Just some of the most popular dried fruit include:
Apples
Mangoes
Figs
Bananas
Currants
Strawberries
Apricots
Blackcurrants
Raspberries
Dates
There are also healthy fruit snacks like fruit and raw nut mixes and salads and crystallised ginger chunks, which can be used for all kinds of things in cooking. Just remember that there is a difference between dried, glazed and candied fruit when you are working in the kitchen, and they are not all as healthy as the other!
Yes, dried fruit can be incredibly nutritious, and beneficial to your diet in the right amounts. As we covered, these fruits are full of goodness that you need in order to stay healthy and live a long life, and they can help to prevent diseases as you get older.
Here are some stats for different dried fruits for you to consider:
Dried dates (2) – 110 calories, 1 g protein, 31 g carbohydrates, 3 g fibre, 27 g sugar
Dried apricots (28 g / 8 halves) – 67 calories, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 2 g fibre, 15 g sugar
Dried mango (40 g / 9 pieces) – 128 calories, 1 g protein, 31 g carbohydrates, 1 g fibre, 27 g sugar
Dried banana chips (72 g) – 374 calories, 1.6 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 5.5 g fibre, 25 g sugar (please note banana chips are processed and typically fried with syrup or honey)
The great thing is, even if you do not enjoy dried fruit as-is, you can always rehydrate fruit and use it another way. If you really love dried fruit, on the other hand, you can freeze dry your own fruit and have unlimited stock for all of your favourite dishes.
If you go by the 5 a day rule, around 30 g of dried fruit will count as one. This is the equivalent of roughly 80 g of fresh fruit.
We recommend people enjoy their dried fruit (and fresh fruit) around meal times. However, if you are a chronic snacker, then you can enjoy these treats in between means – as long as you brush your teeth afterwards. The sugar content of dried fruit can put you at risk of developing tooth decay and gum disease, so you should take preventative measures.
Depending on your own preferences, you might love some dried fruit and hate others. Whether it's down to the flavour, texture, or nutrition and nutrition, everyone could have a different version of what they see as the ‘best’.
However, if you want to focus on how healthy different kinds of dried fruit are, we would have to argue that options like apricots, dates, prunes, and raisins are the best. These have great nutritional value and are also delicious – although things like prunes and dates are not everyone’s cup of tea.
If you want to pick the best possible dried fruit for you, make sure to opt for the fruit that does not contain any added sugar. These fruits contain enough sugar as-is, and are perfectly sweet and delicious as they are without any more being added to the mix.
Dried fruit such as dates are quite high in sugar (25.00 g per ¼ cup or 40g), but have lots of health benefits that shouldn’t be overlooked. Cranberries are similar, with 48.44 g of sugar per ½ cup, yet they are packed full of calcium, vitamin C, and antioxidants – all of which our bodies need to thrive and stay healthy.
If you only look at the numbers, it’s too easy to fixate on the sugar content and ignore all the benefits, but these fruits are nutritious even with this sugar.
Snacks like dried mango, cherries, and cranberries all contain a lot of sugar in them, so you should be sure to enjoy these in moderation. Many dried fruits have more sugar in them than the fresh fruit alternatives because the water has been removed from it, concentrating everything into a much smaller package.
Although cranberries have a lot of sugar in them, this doesn’t take away from the fact that they are super high in antioxidants and are otherwise nutritious. Don’t let the sugar content prevent you from enjoying them as a treat.
Dried fruit is packed full of nutrients, which can make it a fantastic snack if you want something both sweet and healthy. However, you do need to be mindful of how much you eat because of the high sugar content.
The sugar content shouldn’t put you off, since we do need sugar in our diets to function. However, too much of anything is bad, and eating too much sugar puts you at risk of health conditions that we would all rather avoid.
At Natural Health 4 Life, we are dedicated to providing you with all the delicious fruit snacks you could ask for. We also like to keep you informed through articles, though – with blogs on the lifespan of dried fruit, which fruits have the least sugar, and if dried fruit is actually good for you.
So, is dried fruit nutritious? Nutrition levels vary from one fruit type to the next, but on the whole, dried fruit is a nutritious snack that you would benefit from enjoying in moderation.
